Chapter 15: Dawn we go
Eyyyyy! What the fuck! "Cough cough!" Something fucking grabbed me!
Where did the fucking ground go! And my eyes are burning!
"Cough, Buneary, what's going on?" At least she is still secure in my arms.
"Cough, Bune! Bune?" She doesn't know either.
"Bad news Jessie. Looks like we have some extra weight and can't take off!" Some fucking asshole says from above me and I look up to see what's going on.
There is a hot air balloon with some weird arms sticking out of it at the sides. A blue haired guy in white outfit is looking down from the gondola.
Soon after that guy said that there is extra weight, a pink haired lady with a really weird hair style, a weird looking cat and a blue blob look down from their gondola too. A Meowth and a Wobbuffet.
"Who the fuck are you!?"
"Watch your language, you brat!" The Meowth shouts back at me with his scratchy voice. "Children are watching!"
The Meowth can talk?! "Fuck you! We're all adults here!"
"Team Rocket?! Let our pokemon go!" Ash's voice comes from below.
The others are also shouting out their frustrations. Around me are pokemon voices.
It looks like all of the pokemon and I were grabbed by a bunch of robotic arms that are connected to the underside of the gondola.
My inspections of my immediate surroundings are interrupted by some kind of theme song that starts playing from the hot air balloon.
"Is that a voice I hear?" The pink haired lady says.
"It's speaking to me, loud and clear." The blue haired guy starts rhyming in a duet.
No... Please don't.
"On the wind." - "Fast as stars." - "In your ear." The Meowth finishes the... verse?
Did they try to translate a rhyme directly from ancient Kantonese? This is just terrible!
"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace." - "Dashing hope. Putting fear in its place."
Arceus, please smite them for their cringe!
"A rose by any other name is just as sweet." What?
"When everything's worse, our work is complete."
"Jessie!" The pink haired woman introduces herself.
"James!" Is the guy's name.
"Meowth, that's the name." Even the talking Meowth introduces himself.
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light."
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!" The two adults and their Meowth strike a pose.
"Wobbuffet!" The large blue blob of a pokemon inserts himself into the pose and crashes their choreography.
...
I got caught by a bunch of weirdos.
While they were doing their performance, I could look around more. It really looks like all the pokemon and I are stuck inside robotic hands.
All except Buneary, I could let her out of my hold and she would be free.
A few pokemon could use ranged attacks like Ember or Thunder Shock... But that could ignite the fuel containers.
"You guys are cringe!" Lucas voices his complaints over the cringe worthy act.
He's absolutely right. My ears are bleeding a little from having to listen to that crap. That, or the initial explosion I was caught in.
"Why, thank you!" Says the pink haired Jessie. "Whatever that means."
James whispers something to her. "What!? You twerps! We are not cringe"
They even insult people with twerp and brat. How could they be any more cringe?
"James, give me the release button for the brat. Let's just drop him and fly off."
Oi! I'm like 5 meters in the air!
We are still above the clearing but falling 5 meters to the hard soil is still 5 meters. That would break my legs for sure.
"We can't. I only have a release-all button." James replies.
"Then put the burner to full power!"
"It's already on full power!"
"Hey Buneary." I whisper to the bunny in my embrace. "Do you think you can climb up the cable and destroy their burner? The thing that releases all the flames into the balloon?" She replies with a nod and starts to climb out of my arms.
"But if you are in danger, just jump away and leave me behind." I remind her.
This stops her climb and she looks me deeply into my eyes. I nod in determination to help get the point across and finally she nods too.
Buneary can still try to save me again if she doesn't get captured and the others will need her protection against the wild pokemon if we all fail.
I, on the other hand, will probably just be kidnapped for ransom.
These wanna-be criminals don't seem cold-blooded enough to just kill me. Drop me stupidly, and accidentally cause serious injuries? Yes, but I can't imagine a rhyming, cartoonish villain would kill a 14 year old young adult.
Plus, the clowns up there don't seem to be too bright. I'm probably worrying over nothing.
During my musings, Buneary sneaked up the robotic arm, using her ears to stabilize herself as the others were ordering their pokemon to try and break free.
Chimchar and Aipom almost manage to break out, the fingers of the arms budging slightly, but in the end, the metallic arms are too sturdy for them.
None of the others are what I would classify as physical powerhouse, unlike Buneary.
I bet Buneary could escape on her own.
While the two Team Rocket members argue over their escape, Buneary manages to scale up the gondola and is now ready to break their burner.
"Buneary, use Double Kick!" I shout up, but Meowth noticed her already.
"Oh no you don't!" The raspy voice sounds out. "Meowth, use Fury Swipe!" He... orders himself to counter Buneary but he clearly has no sense for battling.
Buneary's first kick easily breaks through Meowth's miserable attempt at a counter and tosses him into the gondola wall.
The second kick smashes the burner into pieces, and with no more hot air flowing into the balloon, the whole thing starts slowly falling.
We're already 2 meters lower. "Buneary! Press the release button!" And I don't really want to be crushed by the gondola.
"Hey! Don't touch that!" Jessie's voice comes from above. "Ouch! You hit me!"
Suddenly the robotic arm stops holding me up.
9 pokemon and I all dropped a couple of meters to the ground and thankfully, I didn't break an ankle or a leg. The pokemon all seem fine too.
If anything, I, the frail human, was the only one at risk of getting hurt.
The other pokemon run to their trainers and I away from the slowly falling balloon.
Buneary then jumps down too, and right into my arms. "Good job!"
---
The gondola crashes to the ground, shaking the wannabe thieves up in the process.
Then, as they are bickering among themselves, the deflating balloon covers them.
"James! Do something!" Their vocal complaints can be heard loud and clear.
"Careful, everyone." Brock warns us. "Team Rocket usually has multiple tricks up their sleeves. It's not over yet."
"Who are they anyway?" Dawn seems confused. "I never heard of Team Rocket before."
The shrieking voice of Jessie comes again right as James wrestles them free of the massive Meowth-shaped balloon. "'Never heard of them?' We're the largest criminal organization in the world! Do you people in Sinnoh live under a rock!?"
Looks like insulting them really manages to rile them up. "I have heard of Team Rocket before. You people are responsible for the deaths in the lake of rage incident. They are a gang of losers who are operating in Kanto and Johto, and their leader was found out by some kid and had his doctorate revoked."
Some kid, being Red. Which makes their leader kinda cool, but I'm not going to phrase it that way.
"Deaths?" Asks James, but Jessie only has ears for the insults.
She starts growling like a wild animal before throwing out a pokeball. "Seviper, let's show them who the real losers are!"
Shit. If they are confident enough to fight against 6 trainers at once, they must be incredibly strong. "Buneary, start Defense Curls. I think they are tough."
"Chimchar," Lucas takes up the challenge too. "Let's put the losers in their place. Use Ember!"
Hot motes of fire fly out of Chimchar's mouth in a wide cone towards Seviper and... And the hot air balloon with gas canisters inside! It's right behind her!
"Lucas you idiot, they have fucking gas tanks in there!"
Fucking idiot! I drop to the ground and protect Buneary beneath me. Dawn does the same with Piplup and Lucas tries to do the same with Chimchar but his pokemon is too far away.
BOOOM!
A massive, fiery explosion encapsulates Team Rocket with no escape, killing them instantly.
I feel the heat burning into my back, my ears are popping from the pressure and the air is pressed right out of my lungs.
Lucas, who was running to his pokemon, is instead flung backwards as if hit by a wall, and lands harshly on his back.
After the explosive wind lets up, the air starts rushing back to fill the gap. My long hair flutters back and forth as the pressure tries to reach equilibrium.
Buneary is shaking me.
Her mouth is moving but I can only hear this annoying ringing in my ears.
"Buneary!? Are you alright!?" I try to say but I'm not sure if I got it out right. The noise is just too loud to focus. I can't even hear my own voice.
I push myself over to my back. I can't feel any pain in my back. Did I lose my feelings there?
"Bune!?" Buneary asks something and I pull myself up to look at her.
She seems fine. Worried but fine.
I pull her into a tight hug and she struggles a bit before relaxing into my embrace.
All that's left from Team Rocket is a stain of blackened dirt. Not even debris is left over.
Brock is helping up Lucas nearby.
... Fucking shit, Lucas. He killed them!
"Dawn!?" She still covers her Piplup but stirs when she hears my voice. "Are you alright?!"
She looks alright. No visible wounds or blood. Only her hair is an absolute mess.
"I think so! Are the others alright?!"
"I can't see Ash or Asshole! But Brock and Lucas seem fine!"
"Why are we still shouting!?"
... "Right." The ringing had already stopped and after I had moved closer to Dawn I could hear her without any issues.
"Hey, you two. Are you alright? I have some band-aids if you need any." Brock and Lucas have made their way over to us and are checking up on us.
I double check my back and Dawn's for any injuries but we seem to be perfectly fine.
Not even our clothes are singed.
"We're alright." I tell him. "No injuries."
"But what are we going to do now!?" Dawn is hyperventilating. "We killed people!"
... Lucas did it. And they were criminals.
Brock looks a little confused at that. "What do you mean? That stuff happens to them all the time."
"What?" - "What?" - "Huh?"
Dawn, Lucas and I are confused.
Seriously, what does he mean? There is no way anyone could have survived that.
Are the people from Kanto just dumb?
"Team Rocket. They always try to capture Pikachu. Then their stuff blows up and they get blasted into the sky and next week they are back to steal Pikachu again. We were a little bit too close to the explosion this time. Usually you can hear them shout 'Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!', while they are... You know... Blasting off... Again. It's their catchphrase."
What? Is he insane? That explosion would have killed anyone. Does he think that we are in a cartoon or an anime?
No, seriously. He just described a villain of the week to us.
"Okaaay... When an Officer Jenny asks, we don't know anything. If they live, like Brock claims they do, they will pop out again and if not... And if not... Then... Then Lucas did it."
"Hey! You're an accomplice!"
Fuck. He's right!
We killed people and an Officer Jenny is never going to believe Brock's flimsy excuse!
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
"Self defense! We can claim self defense. Once we are out of the forest, we should go to an Officer Jenny to make it clear that it was self defense."
"Have any of you seen Ash or Paul?" Brock casually rips me out of my train of thought.
I don't see either of them. That means they might be tossed off the cliff during the explosion.
"Ash and who?" Lucas asks and despite the situation.
"Dude. Come on. We just killed people and those two might be in serious danger. This is not the right time to make jokes on Asshole's behalf. I think those two might have fallen off the cliff."
"Off the cliff?" Asks Brock, who is looking towards the edge. "Is there a safe way up nearby? Ash and I wanted to travel to Jubilife City today and we need to get going."
Isn't he a bit too optimistic about the situation?
If the fall hasn't killed them, then the pokemon surely would eat them soon.
"Maybe the pokemon have eaten them already?" I voice my most pessimistic thoughts.
"Eaten?" Brock replies. "I don't think there are any pokemon who would eat a human. Do you have maps of the area?"
What? Does he have no clue where we are at all?
"There is a cliff surrounding that area all around. Only way up or down is climbing, or a flying pokemon. And the area down there is the wilderness. Pokemon of the wilderness eat other pokemon or humans."
He did say he was from Kanto. "I don't know how it is elsewhere, but in Sinnoh, we have these zones that only seasoned trainers should visit because they are seriously dangerous. Many people die there, when they underestimate the danger."
"... You're serious?" Brock responds after a while of consideration.
"Yes. Dead serious. Pokemon are very dangerous. How do you not know that?"
And Ash's Pikachu and his Starly are both still knocked out, too. Ash is in serious danger.
"Then we need to rescue them quickly! What are we waiting for!" He's right.
If Brock has no clue about the dangers, then Ash won't know either.
Asshole might be able to inform Ash of the danger, but he might as well spit in Ash's face for no reason. He doesn't strike me as the kind of person who will randomly help someone out.
Brock and I make our way to the edge of the cliff to peer down and assess the situation, while Dawn follows along cautiously, and while Lucas stays behind with a thoughtful look on his face.
Maybe Brock is right about Team Rocket surviving? Maybe they have some kind of technology for that?
I really don't want to be an accomplice to murder.
... Maybe I should just pretend this never happened? ... I have stacked up a lot of situations, where I'm just pretending that they didn't happen. ... I think.
I'm not too sure what I'm actively trying to forget, but I know it's a lot! Might as well add Team Rocket to the list, and let Lucas take care of it.
...
Once we get to the cliff, the first thing we see is Ash down, at the shore of the lake, waving to us and shouting.
"Finally!" Ash shouts up to us. "I've been shouting for help for ages!"
"Well! Stop shouting! You're attracting wild pokemon! Stay put! I'm going to toss down a rope for you to climb up!" I shout back.
"What?! Why should I stop shouting?!" Dude. Shut up!
"Seriously! Stop it! The pokemon around here are deadly!"
"Alright! I will stop shouting! ... Now!" This fucking guy!
"Brock, you make sure Ash stays in your sight, I'm going to get the rope."
"Oh, hey! There is a pokemon!" Ash says from down below. What? "Sure... I will follow you to the feast..." WHAT!?
"Oi! Ash! Stay here!"
Somethings going on.
He can't hear us anymore and follows a strange pokemon into the forest.
"Ash!" Brock shouts after his friend. "Swole, I think something abducted Ash with Hypnosis. We need to go rescue him!"
---
Shit!
Ash got abducted, Asshole is who knows where and my job requires me to help as long as I can.
Fuck!
I went as quickly as I could. Time is of the essence since Ash has been attracting pokemon all this time. The area might be teeming with pokemon who will kill, instead of abduct.
I equip the camouflage overall, over my current outfit and smear on some dark face paint. No time to make it woodland patterned.
I also grab the longest rope I have, 50 meters, and bind one end to a tree near the cliff using the bowline knot.
The rest of the rope, I haul back to the ledge and toss it down the cliff before pulling at it a few times to test the strength of the knot.
Seems good enough
"Brock, you're coming with me. Dawn,--"
"I'm not going down there!"
"You're staying here and wait for help. Professor Hedera mentioned that drones are looking out for us, then maybe help will arrive soon. Lucas," I'm breaking him out of his absentminded state and he returns to the present. "Stay focused. You will make sure that nothing happens to Dawn, right?"
"Alright."
Brock is just standing around while I bind two carabiners to the climbing rope with the Blake's Hitch knot, so we can safely scale down and later up without risking a fall.
After securing the carabiner to my belt and tossing Brock my spares, I start the descent. "Hold on tight, Buneary."
"Good luck! And stay safe!" Dawn tells us just before my head disappears below the ledge.
As I climb down I keep looking out for anything out of the ordinary down below, but I can't see anything besides the lake and the trees.
"Buneary, watch our surroundings."
"Bun."
"I don't want to be caught in an ambush."
Her eyes are laser focused on the treeline below and her ears are fully extended to take in as much information as she can. With her set of eyes and ears handling our security, I refocus on climbing down faster.
Brock is a few meters above me now. He seems fairly used to this sort of thing.
"Buneary Bunne."
"You see Ash?"
"Bun."
"Good, remember his location and where he is heading."
"Bun."
I hurry up a little more and quickly make my way down.
My legs end up knee deep in the lake water near the edge of the lake.
Next time I should consider where I put the rope a little more.
Brock is still climbing so I head to the treeline and hide myself in the bushes. Just in case something is sneaking around.
"Are you still tracking Ash's sounds?" I whisper to Buneary and she nods in confirmation. Once Brock comes down, we need to hurry to catch up to Ash.
I could go ahead but then he might not be able to follow and whatever abducted Ash, could surprise Buneary and me and then we are all doomed!
"Swole? Where did you go?" Brock whisper-shouts and I step out of the bush. I was hiding right in front of him.
"Ahhhh!"
"Shhh! Be quiet." At least I know my camouflage works well.
"Listen up Brock." He's still breathing heavily from the climb and then getting scared but he calms down enough to listen. "Here's the plan: Buneary points you and your pokemon into the direction of Ash and we follow you from the bushes."
Perfect plan. Brock's the bait for whatever is out there.
"Alright, Croagunk, come out." He pulls out a pokeball and the purple, poison frog pokemon Croagunk comes out. "Hey, wait a minute. Your plan makes me the bait! Why?"
"I can stay hidden. You can't."
And Ash is your friend. Not mine. For me he is just a weird acquaintance and it might be my responsibility as a professor's field researcher to help out people...
But I'm not getting one-shot in some ambush for Ash or Asshole's sake. Brock can take that risk.
"Sigh. Alright. Where do we need to go?"
"Bun." Brock accepts his role as the bait and Buneary points out where she last heard Ash walking.
He starts jogging with his Croagunk to save his friend, while Buneary and I move through the bushes a couple of meters behind him.
The forest is very thick and wild, with fallen logs and branches in the way everywhere. It makes traveling through it very hard but sneaking though it surprisingly easy.
I doubt any pokemon is going to notice us as long as Brock is making so much more noise ahead of us.
"Buneary, start doing your Defense Curls." Luckily, I still remember to cheat.
Whatever pokemon has abducted Ash, it will probably not let him go without a fight.
While I'm carrying Buneary in my arms, she can set up her defenses without having to stop traveling. The white glow might be a little suspicious but my arms cover most of it.
Defense Curl just gives too much of a benefit for the upcoming fight to ignore it. The risk of being found out early, is easily outweighed by the reduced risk in a battle.
Buffing up Buneary is the right decision.
On a side note, Buneary looks like a fluffy, massive caterpillar, curling up and stretching out again in my arms for the Defense Curl effect. So cute.
---
All of a sudden, Buneary demands that I stop.
Her Defense Curls stop, her ears stretch upright and her paw pushes against my chest to get my attention.
Brock has also stopped a few paces ahead of me. His Croagunk, she probably notified him of a nearby pokemon.
I make sure Buneary isn't immediately visible and hide in a nearby bush.
Opposite of Brock, a massive, brown, deer-like pokemon moves out of the underbrush.
Two large antlers are on her head with some kind of gem growing in each of them. She's easily as tall as I am without counting in the antlers that make her a good head and a half taller than me.
A Stantler. A pure normal type but that is all I know about her.
And if she is the one who abducted Ash, then I also know that she can use Hypnosis.
From my father's books, I learned that Hypnosis is the bane of the uninformed.
Dodging the extremely large area of effect is impossible but looking away is all you need to do, to be unaffected by the status effect.
... Except, when you look away, you can't really dodge anything else.
Every pokemon that can learn Hypnosis has a body part that emits the move and having line of sight with it, causes Hypnosis to hit.
The trick is to know which body part is responsible for Hypnosis and either disabling it or keeping it out of your field of view.
A pokemon that is attuned to the psychic type, can also feel when the psychic energy collects and predict whether or not Hypnosis is going to be used, and then look away.
"Croagunk, use Brick--..." Brock stops in the middle of his command.
He was hit by the bane of the stupid people. "... Yes, we will attend your children's feast too."
Alright, she obviously wants to feed Ash, Brock and their pokemon, to her children. Good news; She doesn't want to carry along corpses.
Probably due to the missing opposable thumbs. Bad news, I don't know which body part causes Hypnosis.
As Brock and Croagunk start walking under Stantler's orders, I pull out the pokedex, turn it on mute and scan Stantler.
"Stantler, the big horn pokemon. Stantler's magnificent antlers were traded at high prices as works of art. Despite losing and regrowing their horns yearly, this Pokémon was hunted close to extinction by those who were after the priceless antlers. The round balls found on the fallen antlers can be ground into a powder that aids in sleeping. Staring at its antlers creates an odd sensation as if one was being drawn into their centers..."
Ah, in hindsight it's obvious.
"Buneary," I whisper as quietly as I can. "Don't look at her antlers. Only keep her hooves in your field of view." She nods in understanding.
Does she know how Hypnosis works? Maybe?
She is old enough that she must have been through quite a number of fights.
"Start the fight with a Jump Kick ambush. Take your time and make it hurt." Another nod and she starts charging fighting type energy while still in my arms.
I sneak closer to the walking trio and just as we reach the incapacitated Ash and Aipom, Buneary signals that she is ready.
For a second, I contemplated throwing her to start the battle but we never trained for that, so I place her on the ground instead.
With legs under pressure, she makes a few steps and then jumps the last few meters through the brush towards Stantler's face.
The pokemon turns at the last second, hearing Buneary disturb the leaves on her way but it is too late.
Boom!
Buneary smashes feet first into Stantler's face.
Critical hit!
Stantler's neck bends backwards and she has to widen her stance in order to stay upright.
"Look at the ground." I whisper, knowing that only Buneary can hear it. "And use Double Kick. Target her torso or legs. Don't aim for her head anymore."
While Stantler is still shaking her head, to get rid of the dizziness and a possible concussion, the first kick lands on her right front leg which further imbalances her.
Then the second kick comes from the left and smashes her torso.
The combo attack knocks over Stantler.
Whomp.
With a heavy thud she lands on her side.
Nice! That must be an incredibly awkward position to fight in. We can get in some easy hits now.
"Buneary, use Double Kick."
Buneary stays still. No...
Stantler's antlers are closer to the ground now!
Shit!
"Buneary. Close your eyes. Now."
No response. No, no, no, no!
"Come on, use Double Kick, right in front of you."
She stays still... SHIT! Can Stantler seriously hypnotize in a split-fucking-second!
No!
Shit! Fuck! How is that fucking fair!
"Buneary... wake up." It's taking all my focus to keep whispering.
Fucking shit! This can't be happening!
I pull Buneary's pokeball from the belt. I could just return her and then run...
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Ash, Brock and their pokemon are dead then.
I swallow heavily. My blood is draining from my skin and my heart is pounding.
It's so cold.
Buneary...
Stop panicking, Swole! Do it later!
Panicking will get me nowhere! What can I do?
What are the ways for Hypnosis to end? Stantler could just... decide to end it... Fat chance of that happening.
If Stantler gets knocked out, the Hypnosis stops. No chance of that happening either.
Enough mental or physical stimulation could also wake Buneary up. That means shouting or shaking her.
Both will give away my hiding spot and might fail. FUCK!
Or... The Hypnosis time runs out and Buneary could just wake up.
But depending on how strong Stantler is, Buneary could be led to her lair long before that happens.
Chesto Berry-- No way! How could I forget this? I could have made her eat a Chesto Berry in advance!
Why didn't I think of that! Stupid! Fucking! Idiot!
She's starting to walk with the other hypnotized people. I need to decide now! Before we get too close to any other Stantler.
None of my options work beside running away or trying to wake Buneary up... If I run away, all except Buneary and I die for sure.
Buneary and I might still die, if Stantler chooses to chase after us.
If I try to wake Buneary up and fail, I can still recall her and then run away. Unless I fail dramatically and get hypnotized too.
Huh? When did I get so much closer to Buneary? I'm still sneaking and hidden in the brushes but I'm much closer now.
Buneary is just a few steps away from me and Stantler a bunch more.
She is in the rear position while Stantler moves in front.
I could run up, force feed her a Chesto Berry and make sure her eyes are closed... No, she won't even need to close her eyes for some after eating it! That's it!
I quietly pull out the berry case from my backpack... Any noise I make is easily drowned out by the noise of the group, between me and Stantler.
After pulling out two Chesto Berries, I eat one myself and ignore the taste. And then I ...
Deep breaths.
And then I dash!
Through the brush, my stomping steps notify the Stantler and she turns around instantly.
She takes an extra half-second to realize where I am. Thank you camouflage!
I'm already on my knees, pulling Buneary in and sticking the Chesto Berry into her mouth. Her eyes whip open.
From the physical stimulation? Or is the Chesto Berry effect so fast?
Doesn't matter! "Buneary! Use Double Kick!"
She realizes immediately where she is and what her target is.
Stantler is stomping towards me, a weird wavy pattern forming in the air around her horns.
This is Hypnosis!
Oh Arceus, if the Chesto Berry hadn't worked, it would have been all over now!
But I'm immune right now! Ahaha!
Fuck yea!
Kick!
The first Double Kick goes right in Stantler's face!
Buneary had jumped away from me, kicking herself off of my lap, and her left foot went right into Stantler's stupid, fucking face!
~"Take that, you bitch!"
"Fuck her up!"
Bam!
Her right foot smashes straight through her antler, breaking 1 off at the base.
Another critical hit!
Stantler recoils in pain and takes a few steps back.
"After her with Quick Attack, Pound then another Double Kick! Get her!"
Stantler looks intently at Buneary, probably not realizing that her Hypnosis has no effect anymore.
Bam! Pow!
First hits the Quick Attack. The massive Stantler takes it head on, barely flinching at all.
Immediately after comes the Pound attack and she closes an eye in pain. The air around her remaining antler stops swirling as well.
Stantler tries to counter the Double Kick with Stomp, but Buneary is just too angry to let up and easily breaks through the half formed normal type attack, and then the second kick goes for the head once again!
Fucking hell! Stantler is really tanking a lot of hits!
How do we finish this fight!
We can't use Sweet Kiss or risk Stantler attacking Brock or Ash on accident. Flail is not set up either. Her basic attacks don't deal enough damage.
"Buneary, step back and use Baby-Doll Eyes." The least we can do is stall until someone else wakes up or until Buneary gains enough momentum to use another Jump Kick.
The usual ethereal eyes come out and successfully lower Stantler's attack power, while Buneary steps closer to me.
Suddenly, white light shines from Stantler's face, forcing me and Buneary to look right into her eyes.
"Ahhh!" I can't help but shout out in fright as I drop to my knees. Everything just became heavier.
What the fuck was that! It stopped as quickly as it started but for a second Stantler was incredibly scary.
Whatever it was, it caused some white light to seep into Buneary and me. It must be some kind of status move.
Anyway, Buneary is far enough away to recover her breathing slightly and she would have the time now to use Jump Kick again... "Use Jump Kick."
I think that is going to be the only move that can win this anytime soon.
At the same time as Buneary is charging her fighting type energy, Stantler is running to use Tackle against us...-- No! Not Tackle, this move is way too strong.
It has to be Take Down.
I can use that! "Buneary, take your time. Make the Jump Kick as strong as you can."
Stantler is on a straight path towards us. Right before she crashes into Buneary, she jumps up vertically and drop-kicks straight into Stantler's face again!
Stantler's momentum is carrying her face into Buneary's fully charged feet.
Boom!
The collision is so powerful that I get tossed on my back and Buneary lands on my stomach with a fresh bruise. "Oof!"
But Stantler is kicked all the way across the impromptu battlefield into a tree. She just barely missed Ash on her way through the air.
This must have been it!
The recoil damage from Take Down and an overcharged Jump Kick!
... No way!
Stantler is getting back up!
Her legs are shaking but slowly she is getting back-- Her front legs buckle and she collapses!
... Yes? ... I get a closer look. Her eyes are swirly.
Stantler is KO.
Yes! "Wuhu! We fucking did it!"
Brock, Ash, Croagunk, Starly and Aipom look around at my noise as they start coming back to their senses.
"Wrryyyyyy!"
Buneary lets out her own victory scream and then we hug each other in joy.
'We'? We! Buneary is finally hugging back!
Ah! She pushed herself away from me, when she realized what she was doing.
---
My knees buckle and I drop to my ass.
I haven't noticed before but my entire body is shaking and I can hear my own blood rushing through my veins.
Fuck me. "Ha ha. We fucking did it..." I can't believe how close it was.
"Poke-berries are so overpowered."
Oh man, I'm going to buy a lot more of them for our travels.
"What happened? Where did all of the food go?" Ash has finally come back to his senses and is now thoroughly confused, over being in the middle of an Arceus forsaken forest.
"You were going to be the food, mate. Ha." I point out the knocked out Stantler on the ground while trying to catch my breath and calm my smiling. "You got hypnotized and she was going to feed you all to her family."
"Hypnotized? Aww, seriously? It happened again?" Ash says.
'Again?' This wasn't the first time that happened to him? Is that what 4 years of trainer experience looks like? Getting hypnotized every other week?
"Ash," Brock starts. "The other times it happened, we hadn't been in any actual danger. Apparently some wild pokemon in Sinnoh will kill humans."
"You mean like Mewtwo?" What?
"I don't think they hate humans. They just eat them. Right Swole?"
"Ehh, yea. Sure. Anyway, let's get out of here." I say as I stand back up and take a last look around.
"We can't capture Stantler, right?" Buneary shakes her head, which makes her ears flop around.
Then there is nothing left to do here.
We got Ash and I can't capture Stantler.
Buneary might be stronger than Stantler, but not so much stronger that she is able to suppress her until Stantler wants to stay with us.
And we could get hypnotized in our sleep with her around.
I might have planned to become more of a risk taker, but that is a risk I'm not going to be taking.
And I don't really want to separate her from her children either.
"Should we call the pokemon rangers? If pokemon are eating other pokemon here?" I hear Ash saying, as Brock starts leading him back the way we came from. "Oof. Hey, what's that on the ground?" Ash clumsily stumbles over one of Stantler's horns.
The pokedex said they are valuable. "Oi! That's our loot! Hands off!" - "Bun! Grrrr!"
I scramble to pick up the antler and put it in my backpack. Buneary helped at making sure Ash and Brock know their place and stay away from our loot.
I have no idea how valuable it is, but if people used to hunt Stantler almost to extinction over their antlers, then this has to be worth quite a nice lump of money.
And it's our trophy for the fight too. Ash did nothing, Brock was only bait and Asshole...
"Where the fuck is Asshole?!"
"Who?" Brock and Ash ask simultaneously.
"You know, the guy. What's-his-name who fell down with Ash. The guy who is an asshole. Hence the name."
Realization dawns upon their faces once my description reaches the part that calls him out, as an asshole.
Honestly, the name should be self-explanatory to anyone who has had the misfortune of meeting Asshole.
"Ah, right! Paul fell down with me!" Ash finally remembers the missing person. "He said that our battle was over and he didn't want to stay with us losers and went into the forest. Alone. Do you think he is in trouble?"
"Nah. He's going to be fine. He said he wanted to go into the wilderness. The guy can take care of himself."
I hope he lets out his pokemon from his pokeballs before he kicks the bucket.
Maybe his pokemon rebel and dispose of him in the wilderness? "Let's get going. I don't want to stay here for a second longer."
...
"There they are!" After a short while of walking through the dense forest, we arrive back at the lake that Ash and Asshole fell in.
Dawn is standing near the top of the waterfall and notifies Lucas about our arrival.
"Hold on. I will give them a lift." An unknown voice of a young-sounding woman sounds from above.
A lift? We don't have to climb?
"Hey, I think I heard that voice before..." Ash comments from beside me.
All of a sudden, a massive pokemon blots out the sun above us and casts us in shadow. As the pokemon descends, I can make out more and more details.
It's some kind of dragon-like pokemon with leathery wings and a burning tail...
Wow! It's a Charizard!
A female Charizard with bright orange, healthy looking scales.
As she lands in front of us, in the limited space that the area between the lake and the trees offers, she lets out a short burst of fire into the air and poses in a sort of regal way.
She definitely has a majestic look to her. "Char!"
From her back jumps her trainer.
Wow! A pretty girl!
A little older than me and around a head taller too.
She has wild, light blue hair and a customized red, black and gold pokemon ranger outfit. Her vest is shortened at the arms and the torso, giving it the appearance of being too small and she wears a skin-tight sports jersey underneath it.
And she wears thigh-highs, probably due to the fact that she is in Sinnoh and her pants are ultra short, skin tight hot pants. The outfit would be too cold without thigh-highs.
The combination also shows off a nice amount of absolute territory.
She looks hot. But she is not well dressed for the Sinnoh climate. She doesn't even wear a scarf!
... Although, it is a well known fact, that women are immune to cold temperatures.
Oh, and she has a Plusle on her shoulder. Positioned in the same way, as Buneary is on my shoulder.
He is a cheerful little guy, who is one of the many types of electric mouse pokemon.
"Hello everyone. My name is Solana and-- Oh! It's you, Ash! Did you get yourself in trouble again? Why do I always have to pull you out of these messes? You and... and... uhhhh... your friend."
Oof! Brock looks like someone punched him in the gut!
"Anyway! This isn't the right place to have a reunion! Climb aboard on Charice here and she can carry us all at once back to safety."
---
Narrator-POV:
It was a very tight fit.
Charice the Charizard may be a powerful pokemon who can easily carry the weight of a few tons, but there is only so much space on her back.
Solana decided to let Charice carry Ash and Brock in her talons while herself and Swole were seated on Charice's more comfortable back.
Swole got to enjoy Solana's boobs pressing into his back for the short ride, and he thanked her and Charice for the lift.
Solana did not know that Swole was secretly a pervert, like all 14 year olds secretly are.
But Solana did know from experience that Brock is a pervert so she did not want him anywhere near herself.
As for Ash, he was the reason why she had to spend her cushy off-day traveling into the middle of nowhere, just to airlift a few brats and perverts.
Her superior had tasked her to go rescue students who have gone missing in the Bewilder Forest wilderness zone.
However, just moments after she reached Dawn and Lucas who gave her a rundown of the situation, the missing students have reappeared, making her trip seemingly useless.
Solana was not the only adult that was called to the camp of our heroes.
An Officer Jenny was also sent by her superior to investigate an explosion that occurred in their camp.
She arrived at the scene on her off-road motorbike, around the same time as Charice dropped Brock and Ash unceremoniously on the ground.
Now, a slightly guilty looking pokemon ranger is being given the stink eye by Officer Jenny.
"You should treat your cargo a little more carefully, ranger." She says as she announces her presence to the few who have not noticed her yet.
"Ahh! Officer Jenny! I'm so sorry! Uhmm... you see... uhhh... I have some history with those trouble makers. Right. And that guy is a pervert." Solana struggles to explain her situation to the police officer.
"A pervert... Likely story." She is not convinced at all. All she sees is a young pokemon ranger who has been slacking on her job.
Brock scrambles to pull himself off the ground and rushes to grab Officer Jenny's hands. "As likely as the stories of love you and I would write, if we took off together on your motorbike! Thanks for caring for Ash's and my safety after the harrowing events that transpired to us!"
Officer Jenny's disdain is obvious.
"Yuk. Apologies for doubting you, ranger." Officer Jenny says after cringing away from Brock. "Anyway, I have been called here due to a reported explosion in this area... And seeing the large singed area over there, I can safely assume some of you know what the cause was."
Swole, Dawn and Lucas share unsure glances, but Lucas pulls himself together and steps forward.
"It was me." He says. "We were attacked by Team Rocket and when my Chimchar used an Ember attack, their hot-air balloon exploded and they were caught in the explosion. I don't think there is anything left of them... The explosion had thrown Ash and A-- A student, Paul off the cliff."
"Wait!" Solana interjects Lucas' summary of the events. "Ash AND Paul fell off the cliff... And you're Brock and... Swole, right?" Swole nods in confirmation.
Dawn and Lucas had given her the rundown of the situation but have apparently forgotten to mention Paul at that time.
"Well... Where in Mew's name is Paul!?"
"He said he didn't want to stay with us and left deeper into the forest before Ash was abducted by a Stantler." Swole explains.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Uuuurgh. I have to go and save him now... What an asshole..." Solana says. "Ah! By the way, you were the one to save Ash, right? Well, good job squirt."
She continues on her way after ruffling through Swole's hair. "Without your help, Ash would have most likely died. You can be proud of yourself. Anyway, I gotta go. Hope to see you guys again. Bye!"
With that Solana jumps on the back of Charice and flies off to look for Paul.
Swole, in the meantime, is visibly embarrassed about being treated as a child, even though he is secretly enjoying the attention. It was not the kind that he would have wanted from a beautiful girl like her.
"Ahem." Officer Jenny tries to get everyone's attention again. "You were trying to explain the explosion? Mr..."
"Lucas. Lucas Diamond."
"Right. Mr Diamond, did I understand you correctly that you caused the explosion that presumably killed these members of Team Rocket?"
"... Yes..."
Lucas is devastated.
His adventure has barely even started and now it already ends because of murder.
Coincidentally, a lot of young, overeager trainers ruin their careers within the first few months of being a trainer through murder.
When a pokemon trainer accidentally kills his opponent's pokemon in battle, their career is over.
They will not be allowed to purchase pokeballs, their pokemon will be taken and released into the wild and they will not be allowed to participate in any pokemon events.
When this happens, the former trainers often turn toward crime.
Killing a human with your pokemon is arguably not as bad in comparison.
A murderer's pokemon will be released and the murder receives the regular punishment in a prison. After sitting out their punishment and displaying remorse, they will be released and can restart their pokemon trainer career.
As for Lucas, his only hope is that killing criminals and their pokemon will be treated as either a self defense killing, or accidental killing instead of murder or manslaughter.
In which case his actions might be considered as justified or he may only be sued for negligence.
"In that case..." Officer Jenny starts. "Well... I am not really supposed to tell this to people..."
She leaves pauses while speaking, to think.
Lucas, growing increasingly anxious, found these dramatic pauses to be quite unnerving.
"Well... In summary, explosions aren't deadly anymore." What?
"What?" The students mirror the narrator's dramatized confusion over the statement.
"I told you so." Says Brock.
"Ahem." Officer Jenny clears her throat. "Anyway. Like I said, I am not really in a position where I can tell you the reason but rest assured, you are not in any trouble."
After hearing her words, the relief on the faces of Dawn, Swole and especially Lucas was plainly visible.
Lucas even collapses to the ground and hugs Chimchar with tears of happiness quietly streaming down his face.
"As for Team Rocket, are you certain it was their members?" She asks and the young people nod and verbally give their confirmation.
"They are not known to be active in the Sinnoh region and it would be really bad news if a criminal organization moved in..." She starts mumbling the rest to herself before remembering where she is right now.
"Ah! You were attacked by Team Rocket! Are any of you injured or need any help?"
After the group has managed to reassure Officer Jenny that they were alright and did not need any help, she eventually leaves with her motorcycle, driving back to civilization and letting the students continue their week of survival in relative peace.
Since most of their pokemon are weakened or incapacitated, Ash and Brock set up their sleeping bags in the student's camp and relax for the evening and then stay for night.
As for the others, Lucas was too shaken up to train his pokemon.
And Swole and Buneary relaxed a little to calm down, and then they ate a very large lunch before they resumed their all-out training of Double Hit and the fairy type mastery, together with Piplup and Dawn.
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